TV Standard: NTSC
Color: Colour

Credits:

Bernstein, L.

Description:

Sony Classical will release a series of opera films featuring Jonas Kaufmann from March through July 2016. Following Verdi's "La Forza del Destino" at the Bavarian State Opera and "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "The Clown" at last year's Salzburg Easter Festival, the third release will be Beethoven's "Fidelio," also newly staged and filmed at the Salzburg Festival last summer. Directed by Clau Guth, "Fidelio" was one of the most controversial operas at the Salzburg Festival in 2015. Guth is known for his innovative productions, such as his thorough rereading of "The Wandering Dutchman" at the Bayreuth Festival in 2003 and the mysterious angel in "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Salzburg Festival in 2006, and he has created an overly innovative stage for "Fidelio" as well. The entire piece is performed in a space reminiscent of a grand ballroom, and the story is told through the rotation of a monolith-like object placed in the space. All dialogue is basically cut, and sound effects such as moaning and breathing are used between musical numbers, and Leonore and Don Pizzaro each have an alter ego, a shadow.On the musical side, the cast includes Jonas Kaufmann's Florestan, the second "Fidelio" recording since the Arnoncourt/Zurich Opera recording, Canadian soprano Adrianne Piechonka, Polish-born bass-baritone Thomas Konieczny, who is also active as an actor, and veteran bass Hans-Peter Koenig. Veteran bass singer Hans-Peter König is also in the cast. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, delivers a beautiful and powerful sound. The overture to "Leonore" No. 3, which was performed as an interlude to Act 2, Scene 2, was also performed with a power that is unusual for the usually cool Welser-Möst, and the audience applauded him loudly. Sony Music